Singapore jails ex-civil servant in sex-for-favors case

AFP, SINGAPORE

A former senior Singaporean civil servant was jailed for six months yesterday for receiving oral sex from a female executive of a supplier company in return for business favors.

Peter Lim, former chief of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), had tarnished the reputation of the city-state’s public service by engaging in corrupt behavior, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim ruled.

The judge rejected defense pleas for Lim to be given a stiff fine or a short custodial sentence and said “an uncompromising stance must be taken against all corruption offenders, regardless of their standing.”

“The rigorous and relentless upholding of exacting ethical standards is the price for Singapore’s successful management of corruption,” the judge added.

She also highlighted Lim’s position as the highest-ranking officer in Singapore’s emergency response agency and the damage done to the public service.

“I found it totally unacceptable that instead of upholding the trust reposed in him, the accused had engaged in corrupt behavior that brought disrepute to the high office he held,” Ibrahim said. “With every public servant’s fall from grace, the confidence in the public service is affected and that is a fact which I could not ignore.”